At times, your car can decide to talk to you. How to
interpret the message is where most people fail.

You can learn Italian, Spanish, or any other language at
school or through online courses. However, there is one language no school can
teach. That’s the language of your car.

Your car chooses no place or time to talk to you. It can
be on a busy highway or a winding path to your countryside home. Particularly,
modern cars have developed a distinctive language. They don’t talk like the old
Chrysler of the 80s. They can groan, screech, or grind in an effort to tell you
something is not right.

When you hear this, one or more of your tires are dying.
The tread is coming out and leaving the carcass bare. When you are speeding,
the tread tear and wear increases. The noise is disgusting. For your safety and
for your car’s bodywork, stop driving when you hear this noise.

2. Sweet scent more like
pancake syrup

Unless someone close by is making pancakes, the sweet
smell may be a message from your car. The most probable culprit is the cooling
culprit. The coolant or antifreeze has a component called ethylene glycol. This
substance is the source of the sweet, pancake scent. Maybe the radiator is
ruptured or cracked, and it is on its last breath.

Do not ignore the smell unless you are ready to be
stranded on a lonely road with your engine boiling. Act swiftly if you notice
an orange, green, or yellow puddle on the parking yard.

3. Squealing

Squealing is for pigs, and so does your car when sending
you a coded message. When you hear that high-pitched noise, it is the accessory
belt giving its last dying kicks. Cars from the older generation would have
failing alternator or water pump belt and still make it to a nearby service
station. It is not the same case with modern cars. The belt controls so many
critical functions, and a broken one will leave your car dead on the spot.

If the squealing happens when you press on the brake
slightly, it is a problem with the shoes or pads. Take your car for checking as
soon as you have the time.

4. Engine revving… sometimes normal but not always

You are hitting top gear to build momentum for climbing
the hill ahead. When the climb begins, your engine begins to rev while the
speed does not change. If your car has continuous variable transmission (CVT),
for instance a Nissan Murano, there is no need for alarm.

However, if your car has a manual transmission and the
engine revs during a climb, it is not all well. The clutch is no more and has
zero friction on the plates. No shortcut about this; it’s time for a new
clutch. If you own an automatic car and it is showing the same problem, it may
be more than a clutch problem. It could be the transmission requesting for a
rebuild.

At Young’s Auto Care Center, we can decipher each of your car’s coded messages. Come and meet a team of Norco auto repair mechanics who understand your car.